Video-o-rama: Figuring out the lie of the financial land

With investors trying to figure out the most likely direction of stock markets, the US dollar, government bonds, commodities and gold attracted a fair bit of attention – also from the producers of this week’s video footage.

The compilation kicks off with Congressman Alan Grayson uttering some harsh words at The Big Picture Conference – Capitalism After Crisis & Recession, and concludes with a fun ditty – a Wild Life Boogie, AKA The Economy Song.

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“Those were just some of the harsh words Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida had this morning regarding Washington’s handling of the financial crisis so far. His remarks were part of The Big Picture Conference – Capitalism After Crisis & Recession at the New York Athletic Club today.

“To be sure, while there’s a huge risk in the government borrowing $10 trillion, the alternative was Great Depression 2, the congressman said.”

“With American banks rushing to raise capital, the worst is over for the financial sector, right? Not so fast, says Josh Rosner of Graham Fisher & Co.

“Indeed raising cash is good news and second quarter results are likely to be positive, Rosner told us at The Big Picture Conference–Capitalism After Crisis & Recession in New York.

“But longer term, the ‘sugar high’ from stimulus packages and bailouts will run out, he says. Troubled assets remain on bank balance sheets. Weakness in housing is just the beginning of a ‘rolling crisis’ that will spread to credit cards and commercial loans. Plus, unemployment is rising. Rosner expects this ‘re-destabilization’ later this year into early 2010.”

“The declining dollar becomes a key topic among leaders after trading near its lowest level this year versus the euro. Insight on what Russian president Dmitry Medvedev thinks about the dollar’s drop, with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo.”

“Brian Hicks, co-manager of the US Global Investors Global Resources fund, says a new trend in gold buying will help gold hit $1,000. And when it reaches the elusive 1K mark, can that level be sustained and/or eclipsed? Yes it can, according to Hicks, given the strength of other commodities like crude.”

“Wang Dan was a student leader of the1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen square and was once at the top of the Chinese Communist party’s most-wanted list. As people commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, he recalls the events leading up to June 4 massacre, and examines the the protests’ legacy on modern China.”